Sunrise Aviation

You have to read all the reviews mostly are one star, Mike Church who run this school is a very RUD person he don’t know how to tread people, the worse learning environment you could be in, fine other school to learn to fly this school is the worse of the worse.

Should have really read the bad reviews. My wife signed up for the CFI course, expensive but seemed very thorough and complete training. After they got deposit a few classes, it turned into 3000 – 4000 $ before the actual intrusctor course began. Like so many flight schools, all about the money, too bad, go sonewhere else, we did and she is well on her way at half the cost, without the bad attitude !

A while back I was attempting to finish my CFI here. What a mistake! The instructor they assigned me said it would be 4 – 5 lessons to complete the endorsement for the Checkride AFTER we flew together for an evaluation. What a lie! 10K later they still wouldn’t make the endorsement and Lyn Carlson said I was weak and would never pass. That did it, I went back to my airport south of SAN got endorsed and passed my initial CFI the first time at the FSDO in San Diego. All of the students who have begun with me have passed their check rides on the first attempt. I’m sure they were just bilking money because the instructors were whining about their lack of students there. I would not recommend training here.

Do not take your written test here. They do not schedule appropriately. I drove out there to take an exam, having spoke to the man at the center just 30 minutes before. When I arrived he feigned ignorance to having even spoke to me. The people at that center are flat out rude and not at all accommodating. Please schedule exams at a different location.

Retired professional pilot enrolled in Primary Aerobatic Program, paired with wise and patient aerobatic instructor/​former Navy pilot, Art. Art is well versed in the art of aerobatic flight and was great at teaching this ol dog new tricks. Have piloted (driven) airplanes for years. Really fun to fly them! During the phase check, owner Michael Church put me at ease and made the check ride an enjoyable learning experience. I didn’t want it to end (unusual for a check ride). Michael and Art’s enthusiasm for the sport is infectious. If you are looking for aerobatic instruction, consider Sunrise!

While the instructors at Sunrise are a hardworking and generally good bunch of guys, the school is run by Mike Church who, while being a well known expert instructor, tends to use tyrannical rule to keep everyone in line. It is not a good learning environment. He tends to be domineering and does not encourage independent thinking or students asking questions, under the guise of pushing safety. Do yourself a favor and go with training at OCFC next door. They have an equally qualified staff, but a much more pleasant and welcoming environment. They actually make you WANT to fly!

Before selecting a flight school, do your homework and call around to the aviation schools in the area. Also, visit the school unannounced and speak with the front desk staff, dispatcher, aviation students, and the flight instructors. Then sign up for an introductory flight, which is a very cost effective way to rate the school, flight instructors, and aircraft. That is what I did and hands down I selected Sunrise Aviation over the local competition. I recommend that you do not select a flight school by cost alone. Low cost does not equal an excellent aviation education. Approach your flight school selection as you would the selection of any institute of higher learning. The cheapest college or trade school is not likely to be the best! So, if it is the best aviation education you are seeking, you will not do better than Sunrise Aviation at John Wayne Airport.

Hi,
Currently Michael is training me to be one of his high performance aerobatic instructors. Although already a CFI and former Navy pilot, Michael wants to make sure I am reflective of the product Sunrise offers. It is clear that customer focus and quality are of the highest priority to Sunrise. The teaching is based on real practical-​common sense application and not text book jargon. This is priceless and should accelerate the learning curve for anyone. Further, Michael has made it clear that second only to safety, having fun and a wonderful learning experience is of paramount importance.
You will not regret your decision to fly with Sunrise.

My results were that of Nancy C. as mentioned above. School does not tailor toward part 61 students very well. In my case, staff was not respectful of my instructor who was newer to their company. I would see them speak condescendingly toward him in front of me. Does not make for good business practice. I liked my instructor but he moved to Van Nuys for a better job. They then randomly assigned one of the other instructors which ruined my experience. I opted to go for Aces High in LGB as it supports part 61 scheduling better and is 30% cheaper!
I will say though that Sunrise was pretty well organized and welcomed me right in off the bat, however it was mostly due to my instructor for my good experiences there.

Sunrise Aviation
OK, Listen up my fellow and future Aviator Brothers and Sisters.
This should be obvious to you, but there is no such thing as Second Rate flight instruction or maintenance. This is your Life up there, and hopefully it doesnt, but when the S*** hits the Fan, be glad you went to sunrise as you will know exactly what to do!
The training is hands down, second to none the best out there. Curriculium crafted by Master CFI along with some crib notes from his syllabus that you really wont get anywhere else. Also, they dont let you learn any bad habits that other students tend to pick up.
Fleet is excellent, and you have your choice of a 100HP new Sportcruiser to an Cirrus SR22 along with four types of Aerobatic aircraft, including a Pitss and Extra.
So do yourself a favor. Its your life, so train like your life depends on it.
Prices can be a little steep, but then you are operating of a busy commercial air field. There are no monthly fees, just a block rate
4.5 Stars in all
-.5 for Sometimes doesnt have the «flying club» feel that other places do, but lately, that doesnt seem the case. The new Front desk Staff do a great job of welcoming new students.
The Owner has some Character, but its all in good fun :-)
Fly Sunrise.

If you are the first timer — just want to have the flight of your life — go for it. 15 different types of air crafts?! Oh yeah!
If you are a student pilot — hear me out. It looks like it’s got pretty structured system for part 141, but if you’re part 61 and have limited time and only fly 3 – 4 times a week like me, don’t! They didn’t value me as a customer. Once I got in, got tied down to an instructor. I had to do exactly as he said or else I don’t get to practice flying, way too controlling and random (he just showed up and told me that I don’t get to fly without telling me in advance). They don’t allow me to schedule with another instructor. The old lady school owner gave me lots of negative feedback to try to destroy my confident and self-​believe about aviation. And what she said is not necessarily true. I regret that I went for the meeting when they call me up. Though I do apology that I was forgetful and confused about time to meet. However, turning a customer’s self-​defense mechanisms on is not a good idea — poor customer service right there, and the owner sets a great example. Customer is willing to pay $ 300+ USD for each training, but there is no respect for that matter, she tried to lecture me as if you’re a 6 year-​old just because she is old, so there will be no deal. Not sure about others, I write the review based on my personal experience. I traveled and trained with different aviation schools from Washington to California, Sunrise is definitely the worse experience I could ever have. I was trying to be nice by telling the front desk that the schedule don’t match up well, giving the nicer reason so that I could chose instructor who could possibility be a better fit since I am interested in aerobatic training. In one word, they don’t care about consumer’s right to choose and make their own decision about who to work with inside the company, giving the reason she said «We don’t do things that way in Sunrise Aviation. Sorry we can’t help you here.»
If you are a CFI — think twice. If a student don’t like one instructor in the company, other instructors won’t have a chance to take over a student who decided to go for other instructors and trying to work things out. It is just because your co-​worker can’t handle rejection, and for that matter, the school owner would tell the student off. Lesser chance for you to make money I guess. However, they have a good flow of customer in the other hand. Give and take, good luck.
All in all, the company is as sketchy as its building and parking lot, except the introductory flight is not bad. Different people have different vibe, some match, some don’t and it is normal, nothing too personal, and they made it a big deal. I love the freedom of choice, and we all have the right to choose; in this case, it just doesn’t work out for me.

Don’t let appearances fool you! Their offices may not be much to write home about but what they lack in the physical structure is more than compensated for by their credentials, curriculum, CFI standards, and essentially every other important criteria related to selecting a top notch flight school. It honestly does not get better than Sunrise. Learning to fly is not an easy endeavor in and of itself but their vast experience — headed up by their owner Michael Church (who has more credentials and awards than an entire office wall can hold) — has created a curriculum that is comprehensive yet fun. Never boring. Never lacking. And it always keeps you interested and committed. There is no shortcut, «cheap» or «fast» way to capably learn to fly (or at least there shouldn’t be). You can’t pull over on the side of the road if you experience a problem. You have to have the right (and best) training you can possibly get to insure that you will always be ready for anything that may come up in your life as a private pilot (or beyond). You’ll get that training (and more) at Sunrise.

Michael Church, took me for the ride of my life in the Extra 300. I’m bias because I worked here, but seriously, it was more fun than skydiving. Aerobatics FTW!

This flight school is located on prime real-​estate, e.g. SNA.
This makes for a great training environment for pilots at all levels.
While Diane is without exception the best instructor I have ever met (I am an instructor myself).
Aircraft quality (at least in the 172/​182/​and Multi-​engine range) could be better.
I flew the aircraft one day, and the starboard engine quit on me. Got it repaired away from SNA. Flew it back to SNA. What did the do? Redispatched the aircraft without further inspection. The engine quit again, and apparently created some havoc for instructor and student.
More stringent maintainence protocol?

I have trained for my private pilot certificate at Sunrise and now I am a loyal customer. I will come back for IFR training.

I have taken the training for my private pilot certificate here. I have checked out other flight schools, but decided to go with this one. Currently, I am pursuing my instrument rating here as well.
My Bottom line: If you are looking for flight training, look no further. This place is it.
Other than your «regular» flight training, Sunrise Aviation also offers Aerobatics Courses, as well as aircraft rental.
Their training is focused on safety, and teaching what it takes to learn to fly (yeah, OK, some say that you only start learning after you received your certificate, but let’s set that aside), as opposed to just past the test /​checkride. This usually means, that no, you will not pass with the minimum required hours. You will learn much more than that, and I suggest you will appreciate that, once you come to realize that there are no emergency parking lanes in the sky you can just pull into, get out and stop, and ask for direction. Besides, I want to fly — so why make it a goal to fly as little as any possible? Hence, I did not mind at all spending more hours than the bare minimum. I enjoyed every second of it.
Their staff here friendly, highly experienced and very knowledgeable (Check out their website
and read about their staff, and the awards they have received).
Sunrise also offers a wide selection of Aircraft to fly in, Light Sports, Single Engine, Twin, it’s all there. The aircraft are well maintained by their own maintenance department.
Scheduling of your training and airplane rental time is done online, with a very intuitive and convenient scheduling system.
Other than the comfy sofas in the lobby, they also have a room with Computers to use for customers (for weather briefings, flight planning etc.). Each flight instructor has a small office for the one-​on-​one ground sessions, and there are two classrooms for the ground school lessons.
And, not to forget, they have a Dog and a Cat.
John Wayne Airport, where Sunrise Aviation is located, is among the largest Dual Use (Commercial and General Aviation on one field) airports in the States. It is a busy airport, but the controllers do a great job at getting you in-​and-​out very quickly, I hardly ever had to wait. Also, I saw being trained at this kind of airport as an advantage over being trained at a smaller airfield: It’s about getting used to radio work and dealing with a busy airspace. Being comfortable handling that makes going any place elsewhere a piece of cake.
In all, I can only highly recommend Sunrise Aviation. It’s the Harvard of Flight Schools. Check them out, or go and visit them in person, and you’ll find out.

One of the best aerobatic and primary flight schools in the country, with a tonne of aircraft to choose from, i.e. Citabria, Decathlons, Extra 300, Pitts Special, DA20 and DA40, Cirrus SR22, Cessna 172s and 182, J3 clipped wing cub, Sportstar. Hell i’m surprised they dont have a jet for rent.
Instructors are first class, and their skies are always blue.